Abington's Woodsdale School rededicates 9/11 memorial

Wednesday

Jun 14, 2017 at 8:00 AMDec 27, 2017 at 10:44 AM

By Tom Gorman

A year after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a stained glass window was created by Woodsdale School students honoring Abington resident Jeffrey Coombs and all the other victims of that horrific day. Several years later when new windows were installed at the school, the stained glass window was removed.

On June 9, Jeff Coombs’s widow, Christie Coombs, was joined by the school’s students, faculty and community leaders to rededicate the memorial. The school’s student council, with assistance from the PTO and school maintenance staff, refurbished the memorial that now hangs prominently in the cafeteria for future generations to see.

“As you know, 9/11 was a terrible event,” said Woodsdale Student Council President Kayden Lynch. “It is a part of world history, it is a part of American history, and it is a part of Abington history.”

Lynch noted that Jeff Coombs was on American Airlines Flight 11 when it was hijacked from Boston’s Logan Airport and flown into the World Trade Center in New York City – one of four planes hijacked that were to be used as weapons of destruction in the terrorist attacks. The Coombs’s children attended Woodsdale School at the time.

“The school was filled with sorrow and sadness and grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 wanted to help,” said Lynch. “The four grades designed a stained glass window for the school.”

When new windows were installed in the school, the memorial window was removed and sat in storage for a few years where its paint had faded. This spring, the school’s student council took on the task of refurbishing the memorial.

“This dedication ceremony was an opportunity for the students at Woodsdale to show its love and remembrance for the Coombs family and to remind the community to never forget,” Lynch said. “The student council refurbished the window and we are delighted to bring it back to the Woodsdale School.”

The six student council members who refurbished the window - Jillian Parker Page, Eric Wilkenson, Selena Wood, Diego Fleites, Liam Giller and Lynch – were recognized during the ceremony. The council members gathered next to the stage and pulled a red plastic sheet, unveiling the window hanging on the wall.

Two spotlights shine on the memorial that was repainted and framed so it could be properly displayed. The memorial is a glass panel with the words “Liberty and Justice For All” in red letters surrounded by white stars and a red, white and blue painted border.

Woodsdale Principal David Summergrad noted that the students gathered at the rededication were not yet born on that fateful day, but that it is important that they and future generations remember those lost at the hands of terrorists.

“It is a day we might want to forget, but it is so important for us to remember and to honor the memory of those who perished on that sad day,” he said. “Our reactions that day were a complicated jumble of shock, fear, anger, sadness, and grief. As we know, Abington's own Jeff Coombs was one of the lives sadly lost that day.”

Summergrad said that despite the loss of a father and husband, the Coombs family decided to turn a tragic event into something that could help others.

“Christie Coombs and her family somehow were able to turn their grief into the amazing Jeff Coombs Memorial Foundation, and through that foundation they have been able to help many others through acts of generosity and love,” said Summergrad. “The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. told us many years ago, ‘Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.’ Christie possesses an amazing combination of grace and resolve and determination that has enabled her to transcend the hatred of 9/11 and create a model of love and kindness. It is that kind of action exemplified by Christie and by the Jeff Coombs Memorial Foundation that is powerful enough to change the world.”

He expressed gratitude to Christie Coombs and the foundation she created “for inspiring all of us to do good for one another and to make the world a better place.”

He presented her with a plaque that will be placed under the memorial that honors her late husband. It reads: “Woodsdale School – To Honor Those Who Perished on September 11, 2001. Liberty and Justice for All. Designed by Woodsdale students in 2002. Refurbished by the Woodsdale 5th and 6th grade student council. Rededicated June 9, 2017. In memory of Jeff Coombs, Abington resident.”

“This tribute and plaque are a gift to the entire community, and represent our legacy for the Woodsdale School,” said Summergrad.

After the ceremony, Coombs expressed appreciation to the school, students and teachers for the ceremony.

“I am really grateful to the school for putting it up there for helping the students realize what an important day that was, what a sorrowful day that was, but how our country really came together and showed that we are one country with liberty and justice for all,” she said.

Coombs noted that her daughter’s class worked on the original memorial back in 2002 under the guidance of teacher, Dr. Robin Gilpatrick.

“It was a thing of pride,” she said. “Dr. G. (Gilpatrick) is one of the most patriotic people I know and she translates that to her classes and my girls were fortunate to be able to get some of that from her.”

Coombs said that last year she had asked Gilpatrick what happened to the memorial window and was told it was taken down and put in storage when replacement windows were installed a few years earlier. Coombs credited Gilpatrick for spearheading getting the window out of storage, refurbishing it and putting it back on display to remind everyone of that day.

“She made it happen,” said Coombs. “It looks great. It’s got a permanent place now in the cafeteria. It’s up on the wall where it should be and reminding people what that day is was about. The kids that are at this school weren’t born then and the kids that will follow will only remember from what they learned in school and what their parents will tell them. That helps them remember what that day meant to everyone, not only to the town of Abington, but the entire country.”